Breaking Down The Dramatic New 'Kardashians' Trailer
"My sister used my wedding as a business opportunity"
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The new trailer for season 3 of “The Kardashians” on Hulu dropped yesterday, and suddenly this show is giving us a lot to dissect.
Before I get into that, though, it’s worth taking stock of how the Kardashians’ move from E! to Hulu has been going so far. A lot was made of their jump to streaming after 20 seasons on cable. The promise was more reality, less of the made-for-TV hijinks and pranks they relied on for much of the later seasons of “Keeping Up.” For the most part, they’ve delivered on that.
They came out swinging with a strong first season that felt like an elevated peek behind the curtain of the biggest happenings in their family, which is what the most compelling moments from the end of “KUWTK’s” run did (the Paris robbery, the Tristan Thompson/Jordyn Woods scandal). But its uneventful second season fell very flat. Kim was in her Pete Davidson era, too much focus was paid to the Marilyn Monroe dress of it all, Kravis was in their full PDA swing and the family was collectively trying to deflect from the Astroworld tragedy. A few weeks ago, the 45-second first look at season 3 seemed to promise more of the same. There had been a prolonged break between seasons, and it was unclear what this one was even going to focus on. Another boring season would’ve created a conundrum for them, and they desperately needed to deliver a season that reminded us why they’re even on TV in the first place.
The new, full-length trailer immediately alleviated all of my concerns about where “The Kardashians” was headed, though.
It opens with Kim crying to Khloé about something seemingly involving Kanye, who they’re now referring to as “her ex-husband” — which, that’s when you know. It’s a complete 180 from last season when he was shown on camera delivering her physical sex tape to her before the Met Gala.
“He’s made up the most insane narrative,” Kimberly says at one point. “We stay silent through all the lies for my kids.”
While I’m glad that they’re not shying away from showing how Kanye’s antics continue to affect her and the rest of the family, I’m also relieved that it doesn’t seem to be the focus of this season. We want real from them, but they’re best served when there’s some sort of levity or humor or lower stakes tied into their central conflicts, and the Kanye stuff is way too dark for any of that to be true here.
The central issue is yet another standoff between Kourtney and Kimberly, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it. Some of the Kardashians’ best moments on TV were born out of their natural tension (even just in recent years that’s true: their physical fight and Kim telling Kourt she’s the “least interesting to look at” remain iconic), so this is promising for what lies ahead. Kourtney appears to take issue with Kim striking up a partnership with Dolce & Gabbana following Kravis’ D&G extravaganza of a wedding, saying “my sister used my wedding as a business opportunity.” Kendall says “she felt like her wedding vibes were, like, stripped from her” (amazing). What’s so intriguing about this is that it’s a big point of contention that we had no idea had happened. We obviously knew about the wedding and Kim’s D&G collab, but we all kind of figured that they were connected in a way that had always been the plan — both were part of some bigger partnership between both entities, right? Wrong. It represents a perfect storm of factors — Kim versus Kourtney always pops off, and it’s pitting Kourtney’s No. 1 passion (her wedding/Travis) against Kim’s (her business) — that they would be smart to lean into. A common complaint about the Kardashians’ insistence on maintaining a reality show is that they already show us everything in real time on social media, so what’s the point in rehashing it all again in the form of an hour-long TV show? In addition to simply being a lazy criticism that comes from people who don’t actually pay attention to them, it’s also simply wrong, as evidenced by a situation like the one we’re going to see play out in season 3 between Kim and Kourtney.
One of the other big reasons why I find the show to be important for the family specifically involves Khloé. In between the E! show ending and the Hulu show starting, it felt like the public’s opinion of the youngest Kardashian sister plummeted. She went from being the relatable, funny one to being the one making headlines for taking back her cheating boyfriend and editing her photos too much. In other words, without the show to remind us that she’s genuinely hilarious and, in many ways, the connective tissue of her family, she gets reduced to two-dimensional narratives that focus on her physical appearance and tumultuous love life. Khloé benefits the most from the show from a public image perspective, and this season continues that trend. It basically reminds us that she has a personality. We’ll see her dealing with melanoma, having surgery to remove something from her face and wear a huge bandage over the scar. You have to wonder how having a big scar on her face plays into her already complicated relationship with how she looks, edits her photos and reacts to the public conversation about those two things.
Which also ties into a really intriguing storyline for Kylie, who has been less involved in “The Kardashians” than her other sisters thus far: It sounds like she’ll spearhead the first major conversation they have on this show about the beauty standards they perpetuate as a family, and I’m incredibly curious as to how deep they take it and whether that discussion will involve any admission of work they’ve had done.
“All of us just need to have a bigger conversation about the beauty standards that we’re setting,” she tells her sisters. “I don’t want my daughter to do the things I did. […] I wish I never touched anything to begin with.”
Granted, it’s highly likely that the conversation will end up feeling pretty empty or them just playing lip service to the biggest criticism of their entire family brand. I hope not! But we’ll see.
I’ll leave you with the best blink-and-you-missed-it detail from the trailer below:
Keep scrolling for some recommendations for the week.
Read
“‘What Housewife Isn’t On Ozempic?’ How a Weight-Loss Craze Is Shaping Reality TV” by Sara Ashley O’Brien (The Wall Street Journal)
“Taylor Swift and the Sparkling Trap of Reinvention” by Vanessa Friedman (The New York Times)
“How Elon Musk Turned the Blue Check Mark Into a Scarlet Letter” by Alex Kirshner (Slate)
“There’s Something About Her Business Strategy” by Sami Sage (Betches)
“Did James Corden Change Late Night for Better or Worse?” by Jen Chaney and Bethy Squires (Vulture)
Listen
“Stiffed” Podcast
I’m loving this podcast that tells the oral history of Viva, the groundbreaking erotic magazine for women that featured full-frontal male nudity, feminist writing and once counter Anna Wintour as an editor. It feels very much like the true story of “Minx,” the great show that HBO Max cancelled after one season (but got picked up for a second season by Starz). A fun story told through six quick 30-minute episodes. Listen to it here!
Watch
Jennifer Hudson and Tori Kelly’s “Hallelujah” Duet
This clip popped up on my Twitter feed this week, and it stopped me in my tracks. Their voices sound phenomenal together, and the fact that they can do this sitting down? Beyond.
BTW, if you’re looking for a full duet, you’re in luck: They originally sang this together on the “Sing” soundtrack back in 2016. You can listen to that on Spotify, or you can watch them perform it together at TIFF here.
Bravo, Bravo, Fucking Bravo
“The Real Housewives of Orange County” Season 17 Trailer
After a long wait, Bravo dropped a trailer for the new season of “RHOC,” coming in June, and I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed by it. Granted, I generally feel the least invested in “Orange County” these days, but this season marks the big return of Tamra Judge! The trailer was fun, the editing was playful and there seemed to be a few moments of unexpected conflict — is that Heather Dubrow feuding with Taylor Armstrong? — but what are the major plot points here? It’s difficult to tell, and I was expecting more. Weren’t Heather and Tamra supposedly feuding this season? There was little to no hint of that that I picked up on.
I’m genuinely excited for Tamra’s return, and I think the show needs her, but I’m nervous that we’re going to see her trying a bit too hard to create moments. It’s something I picked up on at several BravoCon panels last year, where it just felt like she was going from 0 to 100 for no other reason than to try to garner a reaction. It didn’t feel super genuine. I’m getting the same vibe from her napkin throwing in this trailer, but I hope I’m wrong.
I also hope that there’s more drama than it seems or that this season picks up season halfway through, so they’re saving all the good stuff for the back half. Regardless, they were smart to give us that instantly iconic Vicki jump-scare at the end there — it’s proven to be a good distraction from the fact that not much else of note happened in those two minutes.
Self-Promotion
I haven’t realized any new interviews in the past couple of weeks because of a few bookings falling through, but we’ll be back next week with two of the stars of the new “Summer House” spinoff in Martha’s Vineyard, which premieres next Sunday. I’ve seen the premiere, and it’s very promising! Get excited about that show.
Also, in case you missed it on my Instagram last week, I now have a custom Barry’s Bootcamp code that you can use for an exclusive 2-for-1 class deal for first timers (if you’ve been before, just use a new email). Click here to book and use JOHNSGIB954 during checkout!
Currently
My mom’s in town this weekend, so we’ll be eating very well for the next couple of days, and I’ll have a full rundown of where we went in next week’s roundup. I’ll also be going back and forth between Jessie Ware and Bebe Rexha’s new albums, which are both great, and trying to finish my current book, “Honey & Spice” by Bolu Babalola.
Loved this! You captured the allure of “the Kardashians” and the downfall of “Keeping Up” so well!